OTC medicine equivalents and sunscreen suggestions for Italy

I would bring all that you will need for your trip with you. The medications sold in Europe probably will not be called the same or may not work exactly the same, or be in the same dosage. If you do want to try take the generic names and dosage amounts to show to a pharmacist. I take the medication out of their boxes and just take the blister pack of pills. Yes it does take up room, but for me the knowledge that I have exactly works for me and I know how it works outweighs the small amount of extra weight.

Also some things are much more expensive, such a OTC pain killers, or not available. Also do you want to spend your time running around trying to find something that may work. I take OTC for allergies and always bring all that I need.

As for sunblock, go to a pharmacy and they should be able to direct you to a good one. Most pharmacy's have someone who speaks English.

On another note, you stated you were bringing an epi-pen. It might be wise to have what you are allergic written in the local language in case some thing happens.

European sunscreen is very good but they use different active ingredients, so if you are allergy-prone there could be an issue. It is also more expensive.

I am also fair-skinned (Irish) and spend a lot of time outdoors. I prefer to wear a sunblock shirt and straw hat instead of sunscreen on most of me. Something like this:

https://www.rei.com/product/112482/royal-robbins-expedition-chill-34-sleeve-shirt-sky-print-womens

Some types are on sale for $40 or so. And lots more at other retailers.

Then I just need sunscreen on nose, wrists and hands.

Bring your medicine with you. When removed from their packaging they take up very little space. I travel with many of the same medicines as you and I always just bring what I need and I only do a tiny carryon.

Be warned that Benadryl is not for sale anywhere in Italy. I've looked. Bring plenty.

When talking to the pharmacists, it helps to have the chemical names of the actual active ingredient, rather than just US brand names.

I believe there are some countries where products containing pseudoephedrine are not available, or at least not available without a doctor's prescription. It's possible that you would turn up useful information by Googling the name of the active ingredient and Italy. I've mentioned previously that, despite diligent attempts in multiple pharmacies, I was unable to find high-zinc-content throat lozenges in Spain last year.

I second the comment that OTC products are often much, much more expensive in Europe. At home we know where to go to buy the bottle of 100 (or more) painkillers for a very low price. In Europe you may be looking at a package of 12 for 6 euros. An Internet acquaintance told me recently that some vitamins and supplements are so expensive in France that she orders them from the US despite the shipping cost.

I've posted about kerrits sunshirts before. These are light weight, ventilated through out. I wear the long sleeve all the time since I had melanoma. http://kerrits.com/womens/technical-riding-shirts

I . You can get the equivalent of Zyrtec in italy ; cetirizine is the main ingredient just look for the Italian spelling on the internet. I bought it over the counter in the Vatican drug store 5 tablets about 6 euro

I agree with those who say bring what you think you'll need. I once forgot to pack ibuprofen, which I take daily for knee problems. My experience was just as one poster described above. It was available,but very expensive. I've also had to purchase pseudoephedrine. Same story, about $1 per pill. By the way, where you're going, you have to get otc's at a pharmacy.

Reading your post reminded me of my last several trips to Europe. I am a pharmacist, and jokingly have done the pharmacy tour of France and Belgium, not to compare practices, but to get medication. I usually try to travel with OTC meds for anticipated needs, but found myself with a cold in France, and hives in Belgium. Our guide in Belgium took me to the pharmacy, where I requested Zantac and Zyrtec for my hives (what we use in the hospital for reactions). The pharmacist gave me the Zyrtec, but I had to do quite a bit of convincing that I truly wanted the Zantac for hives. When we rejoined the group, Nina was telling everyone that I was very forceful and insistent, and had gone toe to toe with the pharmacist!

I would suggest getting your meds in the unit dose packaging if possible (takes up less space, and labeled well). I have found that knowing the generic name is most helpful if you have to purchase there or even here, some OTC brand names are completely different products. As another poster mentioned, there may be restrictions on pseudoephedrine, so you may want to have an adequate supply of that with you.

Wow! These responses are so helpful-thank you! I don't know what I would do without this forum!

Ok, so from what everyone is telling me, it seems that bringing OTC is the way to go (especially with the benedryll and pseudoephedrine) so I'll definitely do that instead- I didn't realize about those regulations and how much more expensive they can be! I'll bring enough, but as a back up, I'll just make a list of equivalents/generic drugs for the stuff that I'm allowed to get over there (in the event that I lose a blister pack or whatever).

Also thank you for bringing up the point about bringing a list of what I'm allergic to with me. I already know how to say it in Italian so I can communicate with the restaurants, but it would be good to have my husband keep the same list just in case. Also- I know Switzerland has several languages. We will be in the Bernese Oberland area while we're there. I'm guessing German would be the best language to translate my allergies to?

Finally thank you for those links about the sunscreen shirts! You would think that after all these years of being pale lol, I would have though of something like that! Plus, I love that they have really lightweight fabric and cover your shoulders- that's perfect for the days that we may be waiting on security lines for St. Peter's and whatnot (when we have to be appropriately dressed anyway). I'm definitely going to invest in one or two!

Debn- Your post made me laugh :). Also, I had no idea that Zantac could be used for hives as well- good to know! :)

Jazz+Travels- completely unrelated to this topic (and I should probably start a new topic on this), but based on your name, I'm assuming you're either a musician or like jazz a lot :). My husband and I are music teachers and jazz musicians as well. Did you happen to come across any live jazz (even like a jam session or whatever) while you were traveling in Italy? Unfortunately, we wont be in Switzerland during the Montreux Jazz Festival, but would love to catch some Jazz at some point in our Switzerland/ Italy travels. We will be in Lerici/Portovenere, Florence, Tuscany (based in Montepulciano), and Rome. Would love any suggestions on where we could drop in to listen some good jazz on a summer night! :)

Rome has Gregory's Jazz club and Alexanderplatz
http://www.alexanderplatzjazzclub.it/program.html
Just check schedule these are where the New York level talent play when on tour.

Last summer I went to Umbria Jazz Fest in Perugia held usually 2nd week in July
This is one of the great jazz outdoor festivals mix of free and paid performances:
http://www.umbriajazz.com I absolutely loved it so much I bought the hoody t-shirt hat as souvenirs
The thing is there are many jazz festivals going on all over
Europe this summer as many towns are part of a circuit;
if you say when you will be over there I can give you your options as this is what I center my evening entertainment on after a day of sight seeing wherever I travel.
(Actually I am in Amsterdam now and have tickets to see great piano player Fred Hersch at club Bimhuis).

Thanks so much for that music info! I'm jealous that you're in Amsterdam! That was one of the places we were also considering when we first started planning our trip because I heard they have a great music scene, but because this is my first time to Europe and we might not be back for a little while, I wanted to get my Alps and Italy "bucket list" items checked off :) .

It seems like we will actually be in Florence/Tuscany during the Umbria Jazz festival (and we will have a car once we're in southern Tuscany, so we can always drive if we want to go to a concert for a night). Jamie Cullum would be great to see on the 8th, but unfortunately, that's our last night in Florence (without a car). Anyway, here is our schedule:

June 25-30- 6 full days in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (no car)
July 1- Train Travel Day to Lerici, Italy (right near Portovenere); we'll arrive late afternoon.
July 2-4- 3 Full days in Lerici (no car)
July 5- Depart Lerici in AM, arrive in Florence by early afternoon.
July 5-8- 3.5 full days in Florence (no car)
July 9- Leave Florence; pick up car; drive down to Agriturismo in Montichiello.
July 9-13- 5 full days in Tuscany
July 14th- Drive to FCO and drop off car
July 14-17- 3.5 full days in Rome
July 18- Depart Rome for home.

What you sent me was already so helpful, but I'm open to anything else that might be around during our stay there too! Thanks again so much!

at the Dollar Tree, I purchase anti diarrhea, anti allergy, aspirin, pm cold medicine (it contains benadryl that puts me to sleep), bandaids, salave and whatever else I need for a buck. It's cheapest and I don't want to spend my vacation time with cramps finding pesto bismal.

at the Dollar Tree, I purchase anti diarrhea, anti allergy, aspirin, pm cold medicine (it contains benadryl that puts me to sleep), bandaids, salave and whatever else I need for a buck. It's cheapest and I don't want to spend my vacation time with cramps finding pesto bismal.

For your car travel in Tuscany, we found that the GPS on our car (Opel from Hertz) couldn't find either of our country locations -- for one, the hotel provided location coordinates but the GPS only wanted streetnames ... and the highway number didn't work. For the second, we could put in the street name but GPS didn't allow address number so we just kept driving until the agriturismo sign showed up.
Plan to arrive well before dark!! And/or call the location for directions if GPS is confusing.

I would definitely bring the level of sunscreen spf you are used to with you. Our exchange family loaded up on SPF 70 before they headed back to Austria two years as they found our sunscreen to be more effective (or cheaper) for their family than what they could buy in Austria. I too am fare skinned and take two very light, long sleeved shirts with me as a little "jacket" coverup on sunny days. I can easily fold them up and put them in my purse if I'm indoors and the temperature is too warm for the shirt layer. I always bring a 3 oz size of sunscreen in my purse for reapplication when needed.

Op , spray sunscreen is not the best choice , it's less effective and hard to apply thickly enough . I strongly suggest to switch to cream , as a dermatologist suggest to my ex hubby who was super fair and already dealing with many precancerous moles .

He suggested , and we now all still use , Ombrelle . Its paba free ( paba can be an irritant ) and we like the less greasy feel .

We use the 30 or 45 , his doctor sees no advantage using the stronger stuff as he says it's more important to apply it correctly . Do it first thing before you get dressed , a generous amount , like a palm full . Let it soak in for ten minutes before you get dressed . The reapply every 3 hours .

If you take Pepto Bismal , bring it , they don't sell it

Op , spray sunscreen is not the best choice , it's less effective and hard to apply thickly enough . I strongly suggest to switch to cream , as a dermatologist suggest to my ex hubby who was super fair and already dealing with many precancerous moles .

He suggested , and we now all still use , Ombrelle . Its paba free ( paba can be an irritant ) and we like the less greasy feel .

We use the 30 or 45 , his doctor sees no advantage using the stronger stuff as he says it's more important to apply it correctly . Do it first thing before you get dressed , a generous amount , like a palm full . Let it soak in for ten minutes before you get dressed . The reapply every 3 hours .

If you take Pepto Bismal , bring it , they don't sell it

I brought my otc medicine with me. I bought the smallest bottle I could find or transferred the meds to a smaller bottle (Bayer Children asprin has a great small bottle) or I bought the medicine on bliss packaging and got rid of the outside box. My local Meijer store has OTC meds in sample packaging in their travel section. I purchased some of the sample medicine I use ever once in a while and got rid of the outside packaging. Everything went into a small cosmetic bag. I transferred my prescription meds to smaller bottles plus I transferred the labels

The sunscreen I bought in Europe except for the stuff I use on my lips.

The first time I went to Europe I had to visit the pharmacy for an otc medicine and I had a hard time explaining what I needed though they tried to be helpful. I was better prepared last summer and I did need some of it.

Years ago, I traveled through Italy dealing with a cold, going to the pharmacist was no help. Perhaps I went to the wrong place or, caught the guy at a bad time but, I ended up with chewable vitamins and tissue....there was very little OTC meds I could purchase that would've done anything. I'll be taking my senior parents through Italy this Fall and this time I will be a walking medicine cabinet: Aspirin, Motrin, Benadryl, Aleve, Prep-H, Mallox, Prilosec, Phenylephrine, Thera-Flu, Niquil, Metamucil, a few ACE bandages, slap-on heat strips...yup, anything happens I'm ready.

As for sun protection, for sunscreen I travel with KINeSYS SPF30, 1oz. bottle. Easy to apply, no residue, no smells; made for triathletes so it holds up under a lot of sweat and activity. I usually bring a couple of bottles, shove it all into my 1qt zip-lock and it gets through with the 20oz of other liquids I've got in there.

If you don't want to deal with applying layers of sunscreen, consider appropriate clothing. One of the best and most diverse brands for travel is ExOfficio. While they're known for really awesome travel underwear (yes, you should get some), many of their clothes have high sun protection ratings and have cooling technology in the fabric.